"After Comey was sacked, as the president said, to stop the Russian Federation investigation, there are some fundamental questions that need to be asked about any director of the FBI", Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of IL, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said in an interview Tuesday.

This is viewer supported news. The former Federal Bureau of Investigation director testified Trump told him during a private dinner that "I need loyalty, I expect loyalty" - and Wray is likely to be pressed on whether he, too, faced a similar loyalty oath. Sad!" Wray said he does "not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt.

Graham told Wray that he wanted him to review the email chain, which he described as Trump Jr.'s "email problems", and get back to the committee on his assessment of it. Period. Full stop. My loyalty is to the Constitution and the rule of law.

"The FBI director does not serve the president, he serves the constitution, the law, and the American people", Feinstein said.

Wray says simply, "I do not consider Director Mueller to be on a witch hunt".

"Anyone who thinks I would be pulling punches at Federal Bureau of Investigation doesn't know me very well", Wray said.

Christopher Wray, President Trump's nominee for FBI Director, released financial records Monday that showed he is worth more than $23 million and earned $9.2 million at Atlanta-based law firm King & Spalding in 2017.

In advance of Comey's confirmation hearing in 2013, Wray joined nine other former Justice officials in a letter offering effusive support for Comey's nomination.

Unlike the president, Wray supports Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible coordination between Russian Federation and the Trump campaign.

Wednesday's hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee delved into Wray's lengthy legal career that included a stint as a top Justice Department official in the Bush administration and white collar work at an worldwide law firm with several major corporations and banks as clients.

"To anyone who thinks I would be pulling punches. sure doesn't know me very well", he added.

Graham grilled Wray on how he would lead the department following recent high-profile events, including the June 2016 emails between Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, and acquaintance Rob Goldstone, a music publicist with ties to a prominent Russian oligarch. "I understand he thinks it's possible he might have, I can only tell this committee I have no recollection of that, and I think it's the kind of thing I'd remember". "No one asked me for any kind of loyalty oath at any point during this process".

"You have to be able to stand firm to your principles", Wray said.

Additionally, Wray listed three "confidential clients" whose "names can not be disclosed because they are subject to non-public investigations".

Thompson said he can not imagine Wray ever giving a news conference, as Comey did, to announce the closing of the Clinton email investigation and then discussing it at length.

Wray has been in private practice for more than a decade, representing big corporate clients such as Credit Suisse in a major tax-evasion case, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in a probe of his administration's decision to change traffic patterns on the George Washington Bridge, apparently to punish a political foe. But Trump nominated Wray despite his having worked with both men.